Christmas Magic
by hxchick
Summary: Will Dave and JJ ever realize they are meant for each other? A good, old fashioned, falling in love story. Written for Starrmyst for the Christmas Gift Fic Exchange. Muti-Chapter, will be updated numerous times each day.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS. I own nothing but my imagination.

Christmas Magic-Chapter 1

**~This is written for Starrmyst for the ****CM Christmas Fic Gift Exchange at the Chit Chat on Author's Corner Forum.**

******~This will be a multi-chapter story and I want to get all of it posted by the end of Christmas Day, so it will be updated multiple times each day. Enjoy!**

* * *

As he walked down the street, reflecting on the previous day he'd spent with his family, David Rossi heard a familiar voice.

"No Henry, we've already chosen our tree, you have to let that tree branch go," Jennifer Jareau said, trying to pry her son's hand off of a lush evergreen tree limb. Why she'd thought it would be a good idea to take the eight month old to a Christmas tree lot, she would never know.

"Problems Agent Jareau?" She heard a deep voice ask behind her. She spun around to see who was there. "Dave!" She greeted enthusiastically as she tried to keep the wriggling mass that was her son securely in her arms.

Just being near her had both a calming effect on the older agent and, paradoxically, it made his pulse race. He'd been in love with the young media liaison since the moment he'd first met her in Hotch's office upon his return to the FBI. One of the hardest things he'd ever done was watch her walk away that day without saying anything to her.

He _would_ have pursued something with her if it hadn't been for his best friend. Aaron Hotchner had made it very clear that JJ was off limits until he'd been back for at least six months. The last thing the unit chief needed was for Dave to have one of his knee-jerk reactions upon meeting a beautiful single female. He'd had plenty of those reactions his first time around in the BAU, and Hotch didn't want it to happen with any of his female team members. He knew that if Dave still felt the same way after six months, it would not be a light romance for him and he would treat the woman better than he had his previous wives.

Dave had followed his friend's warning to a tee, waiting the prescribed six months before acknowledging his feelings for her. The only problem was, that by the time he could tell her how he felt, she'd already gotten pregnant by Will LaMontagne. Never one to make a play for another guy's girl, he'd kept silent and had simply watched her from a distance.

"What are you doing here, Jennifer?" A shiver went down JJ's spine as he addressed her. So few people called her by her first name anymore and it made her tingle when he did it.

"Hmmmm, let's see," she said, looking around. "It's nearly December and I'm standing in the middle of a Christmas tree lot. Come on Agent Rossi, put that phenomenal investigative mind of yours to good use and see if you can come up with the answer."

Smiling at her good-natured sarcasm, he clarified his question, "I _meant_, what are you doing here by yourself, smartass?"

"I'm _trying_ to get a Christmas tree for our apartment, but it's a little hard to lug this," she held up a tiny, scrawny looking tree in her right hand, "And my son to the car at the same time." She set the tree down and asked, "What are _you_ doing here, Dave? I thought you were spending Thanksgiving with your family in Commack?"

"I was, but there is only so much 'family togetherness' I can stand before going insane-" He was cut off by JJ's frustration.

"Oh shoot," she said, mildly panicked, "Henry dropped his pacifier." She looked at the snow covered ground, but the binky wasn't readily visible. "Here, do you mind holding him for a minute?" She asked, shoving her son in his direction.

Dave took the boy and held him between his two hands, his arms stretched out as far as they could reach, and studied the young boy. Thankfully he'd gotten most of his mother's features, since Dave privately thought that Will looked like a scrawny, sickly, little bird. He continued to hold Henry like that until JJ finally stood up triumphantly with the binky in her hand.

Seeing her colleague holding her child so stiffly and so far away from his body, JJ giggled, "He's not a bomb, Dave, you can hold him closer to you," she said as she took him back into her arms.

"Sorry," the profiler said sheepishly, "It's not that I don't like kids, I'm just not comfortable around them. Growing up, my older sister always took care of the younger ones and since I don't have any of my own, I've just never been around them much."

"It's okay, it takes practice. You should have seen me when I first had him. If it weren't for the internet, I doubt Henry would have made it past his first month."

Dave chuckled and then changed the subject, "So why isn't Will here helping you?" He didn't want to verbalize it, for fear of losing part of his manhood, but this type of thing was a man's job and he didn't think he needed to point that fact out to the young southerner.

JJ sighed, she knew she would have to reveal her secret sometime, she just hadn't imagined it would be here, doing this. "Will and I aren't together anymore," she told him, as matter-of-factly as possible.

"JJ, I'm sorry," Dave said, lying through his teeth. While on the outside he was playing the concerned friend, on the inside he was jumping for joy that she was single again. "What happened?"

"Let's just say I caught him in a compromising position a few months ago and leave it at that," she told him, not wanting to elaborate. She should have known he wouldn't let it go at just that.

"What do you mean a 'compromising position'?" He asked, ready to find LaMontagne so he could kick his ass.

"I _mean_," JJ said, knowing she would have to tell him everything, "That I caught him with another woman. It's like this, Rossi; my old college roommate came to DC to visit me and to stay at our apartment while she did some archival research at one of the museums in town. Well, one day I left work early so I could spend some time alone with Will, since he'd been grumbling at my lack of attention. Anyway, I got home to find my college friend in bed with my boyfriend. The kicker of the whole thing? She was wearing _my _lingerie to seduce _my _ boyfriend!"

"Get outta here!" Dave said, feeling his heart leap into his chest at the thought of her being a free woman.

JJ nodded, "Yup, so after that, I told Will exactly where he could go and how he could get there and he left. Then he had the nerve to accuse _me _of screwing around on _him_! He told me that unless I allowed him to take a paternity test, he wouldn't give me a bit of support, both financially and just by visiting Henry and taking him off of my hands every once in awhile."

"Jesus," Dave breathed, already planning on how he would find LaMontagne and let him know how being a father worked; of course the prick might not be able to walk upright after their discussion, but he could still be a father from a wheelchair. "What did you tell him?"

"I told him to go to hell, that I didn't want our son to be around someone who obviously didn't love him and care about him. It's been a rough couple of months since then, but it seems like Henry and I have finally found our footing," she told him, her cheeks reddening; she'd never meant to tell him all of that.

"Christ Jen, why didn't you tell any of us?"

"Because as much as I despise him, I didn't want to see Will floating down the Potomac any time soon and if I'd told the team, that's exactly what would've happened." Seeing him open his mouth to deny the accusation, JJ kept talking. "Come on Dave, you _know _that would have happened. Can you honestly admit you weren't just planning Will's demise when you mentally checked out a minute ago?"

"Are you sure you're not a profiler?" Dave mumbled, not directly answering her question as he decided a change of subject would do them some good.

"Since my ego can still fit though a doorway, I'm fairly sure I haven't joined the ranks of a profiler yet," she said with a smile. Ever since Will had left her…hell, even while they'd still been together, she'd dreamed about being with the older profiler who was currently standing in front of her. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she's fairly certain that Henry was conceived while she was fantasizing about the great David Rossi.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS. I own nothing but my imagination.

Christmas Magic-Chapter 2

* * *

"Is that really the tree you want for your son's first Christmas?" Dave asked, as he took in the sad looking, Charlie Brown Christmas tree the young woman was holding.

JJ huffed, "It's the best I can do with one hand, a tiny car and an empty checking account," she informed him. "Besides, he'll be more enchanted with the lights on the tree than on the tree itself."

"Jen, if you put lights on that dried up husk of a tree, your son will find himself enthralled by the fire in his living room. That thing is dangerous!" He declared.

"Well what do you suggest I do, Dave?" She asked frustrated.

"I suggest you take your son to your car, buckle him in and head back to your apartment. I'll get a tree that's actually alive and I'll meet you there in half an hour," Dave told her.

"Dave, I can't let you do that," JJ said softly. It's not that she didn't want her little boy to have a nice Christmas tree, it was that she had difficulty relying on another man for _anything_ right now. Plus, she'd always paid her way in the world and she didn't want to stop doing that now.

"What?" Dave asked innocently, "All I'm doing is helping you get your tree home. Give me the money you were going to spend and I'll pick one up for you."

JJ thought for a minute and then grabbed the cash from her wallet, "You win," she said, thrusting the small wad of money at him. "Do you have some paper so I can write down my address for you?"

"I'll call Garcia and get it from her," he lied smoothly. The truth was, he had her address etched in his brain from the many drive bys he'd done past her apartment. "You get going home before your son turns into a popsicle," he directed, giving her a small push towards the parking lot. With one more backwards glance at him, JJ turned and made her way to the parking lot. Dave watched as she buckled her son into his carseat and then exited the tree lot. Once her car was out of view, Dave counted the money she'd handed him and chuckled sadly; he doubted it would have been enough to even get the pathetic little tree she'd been holding.

Casting the dead tree aside, Dave made his way to the tree salesman and picked out the biggest, fullest tree they had. After generously tipping the guy and his employees, they tied the tree up and attached it to the roof of his SUV. Thankfully JJ's apartment was nearby, because the tree was longer than his truck and Dave was afraid that he might hit something with it.

Miraculously, Dave found an empty parking space directly in front of JJ's building. After giving them each fifty dollars, three high school kids unloaded the tree from the SUV and helped him carry it to JJ's apartment. Once inside, they helped him set it up and then left to go spend their unexpected Christmas money.

"Oh my God, Dave, it's beautiful!" JJ exclaimed as she held Henry in an excited embrace. She walked around the tree and then shot him a suspicious look, "There's no way I gave you enough money for this big of a tree. How much more do I owe you?" She asked as she picked her purse up from the sofa.

Dave waved her offer away, "Just enjoy it JJ, it's on me."

She shook her head, "I can't let you do that, Dave, I always pay my own way. Now how much do I owe you?"

"Dammit JJ, just let me do something nice for you, okay?" He said snippily. Seeing her open her mouth to argue, Dave plowed ahead, "You are coming dangerously close to insulting me," he warned.

JJ thought about that for a minute, she knew the legendary profiler was easy to annoy and anger, but she'd never heard of him being insulted before. Not wanting to offend the man she had pined over for months, she finally smiled, "Thanks Dave, I really appreciate all of your help."

He smiled back at her, "That's better," he said happily. They stared at each other for a few moments before JJ finally broke the silence.

"Well, I'm sure you have better places to be," she said. "Thanks again for all of your help." To her surprise, Dave slipped his heavy jacket off and laid it over a chair.

"If it's okay with you, I thought I'd stay and help you decorate the tree. Who else will be able to reach those tall branches?"

JJ was shocked, never in her wildest dreams did she think the older agent would _want_ to stay and help her with anything, much less trimming a Christmas tree! "Thanks Dave, but I got really chilled out there and I was just going to take a hot shower and leave the tree for tomorrow."

Dave shook his head, "But we might catch a case by tomorrow and you have me here right now. Tell you what, you go hit the shower while I get all of your decorations out of storage. You can leave Henry in his baby swing and I'll keep an eye on him for you."

"O-okay," JJ agreed, still shocked that Dave wanted to spend more time with her and her son. "The decorations are in the hall closet and they should be marked," she said as she put her son in his swing and turned it on.

"I'll find them JJ, now you go take your shower, we'll be fine out here," Dave assured her with a smile.

Remembering how he'd held her son at the tree lot, JJ was slightly worried about leaving the two of them alone, but she figured that if anything went horribly wrong, she was only one room away. "Thanks Dave," she said softly as she made her way to the bathroom. As she stood under the hot spray, she wondered how in the hell she'd gotten the FBI's most legendary agent to babysit her son.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS. I own nothing but my imagination.

Christmas Magic-Chapter 3

* * *

As JJ stood in the hot shower, Dave went to her front closet and got the few boxes of Christmas decorations down from the top shelf. He stacked them near the tree and then waited for her; he didn't want to start decorating without her in case she had specific ideas for the placement of the different ornaments. While he waited for her, he perused her living room and smiled softly while he looked around; the room was totally her, not too sleek and modern, but not too fussy and ornamental. It looked comfortable, from the overstuffed floral sofa to the end tables filled with various knick-knacks, the room looked lived in, but not messy.

As he walked around the bookshelves that lined the walls, he was surprised to see a hodge-podge of books. She had the requisite bubble gum reading that seemed to be present in most women's bookshelves along with science fiction, literature and, to his utmost amusement, every book written by him. He grinned and had just pulled out a pen to begin autographing them, when he heard Henry begin to fuss. Frowning, he made his way over to the baby.

"Hey there, what's all this about?" He asked, leaving the boy in the swing. He tried to telepathically urge JJ to hurry with her shower so he wouldn't have to deal with a crying baby on his own but JJ's antenna must have been turned off, because he heard the shower keep running as Henry began to cry.

Dave took a deep breath and tried to push his fear down as he went to pick Henry up. He held the boy awkwardly in his arms and sat down on the couch. Once seated, he sat Henry on his lap so the baby was facing him and they studied each other. It became clear that Henry realized that he was alone with what was essentially a stranger and his cries grew shriller.

"Shhh, its okay, Henry," Dave said, finally gathering the baby into his arms. He held him against his chest and rocked him back and forth. While doing that, he took the opportunity to have a chat with the young boy.

"See? I'm not the bad guy that everyone makes me out to be. Your mom has heard many rumors about me and my past; some of them are unfortunately true, but many of them aren't. You know how gossip goes," Dave said, relieved that the baby had stopped crying. "There, isn't quiet better? You know, if you start crying again and your mama hears it, it might blow any chance I have with her, and believe me son, those chances are small enough already."

He shifted the baby so he was cradled in his left arm and he could look down at him. "I've loved your mother for quite awhile now and I would really like a shot with her, and that's going to be hard enough without you crying every time you see me. I know your father was an asshole to both you and her but I promise that if I get a chance to be with your mom, I won't be; I'll love and protect her and I'll take care of you as though you were my own." As if understanding the older man, Henry looked into his eyes and flashed him a large, gummy smile.

What both Dave and Henry didn't know was that JJ had been getting dressed in her bedroom during their discussion and she had half of the baby monitor with her; the other half was in the living room. As she listened to Dave speak, she sat down hard on her bed, her mouth open in a stunned silence. Dave had feelings for her? He was in love with her? How could that be? How could she have missed it for over a year?

As she tried to reign in her emotions, JJ thought about what she wanted. Could she really put herself out there again? Could she take the risk that Dave would break her heart? What about her son? Could she expose him again to someone who might just up and leave them one day? While he denied some of the rumors to her son, JJ knew that some of them were true, and it didn't exactly make him a great catch. What if he cheated on her? She wasn't sure if she could survive that again and she decided to put the overheard conversation out of her mind for awhile.

She took a deep breath, opened her bedroom door and strolled out into the living room. "Is everything okay out here?" She asked brightly.

Dave looked over at her and smiled, "Everything is fine; Henry and I were just having a man-to-man talk."

"About what?" JJ asked, playing dumb.

"Well JJ, if you had a Y chromosome I could tell you, but since you don't, you're out of luck," he said with a smile. Henry, who had been looking up at Dave while he was speaking, mimicked his expression and flashed his mother a big grin.

"I'm surprised, he doesn't usually do so well with people he doesn't know," JJ remarked.

"What can I say, I guess babies like me," he told her as he handed the boy over to his mother. JJ held him on her hip as she walked into the small kitchen. Dave followed behind, wanting to spend as much time with her as he could.

"Want a beer, Dave?" She asked as she tried getting Henry into his highchair.

"Sure, but I can get it," he told her, seeing the fight Henry was putting up. He opened the fridge and was surprised to see that it was mostly empty. Since Thanksgiving had been the day before, he'd expected the icebox to be filled with leftovers.

"There's not much in your refrigerator," he remarked as he passed a beer to her.

"With the schedules we keep, I tend to make just enough for one meal so I don't come home to a bunch of moldy leftovers. I pretty much use it to store my diet coke and Henry's baby food."

"Where are your Thanksgiving leftovers?" He asked.

"There wasn't much left from my Hungry Man TV dinner," she told him, smiling wryly.

Dave was horrified, "You mean you spent Thanksgiving by _yourself_?"

JJ nodded, "It wasn't so bad, Dave, it gave Henry and I a chance to bond with each other and I wasn't going to go all out for the meal when it was just me."

"I can't believe you spent the holiday by yourself, you should have told one of us!"

"I was _fine_, Dave," she reiterated. "It was just another day for me."

Thinking quickly, he said, "Come to my place for the rest of the weekend, I have enough leftovers to feed a small army."

"I don't know, Dave," JJ said hesitantly. Her mind was saying no, telling her not to open herself up to the hurt and betrayal again, while her heart…and other places, were telling her to go for it, to take him up on his offer.

"Come on JJ, I have tons of property around the cabin and Henry can play in the snow without you worrying about him getting run over or kidnapped," he told her. "Plus, I need to cut down and decorate my own tree and you and Henry can help me with that."

JJ considered the invitation; very few people had ever seen the Rossi compound and she was more than a little curious to see the living legend on his home turf. Plus, as much as she liked DC, she could do with a few days away from the city. Dave, seeing her resolve weakening, decided to sweeten the pot.

"You and Henry will have your own rooms, and the connecting bathroom has a large Jacuzzi. Plus, you'll have a built in babysitter for when you want to take a long soak," he promised.

That sealed it for JJ, "Okay Dave, Henry and I will come to your cabin for the rest of the weekend."

"Great! Bring enough clothes to get you through Monday, that way you can stay through Sunday night," Dave said happily.

JJ agreed and then fed both Dave and her son a late lunch. Afterwards, they decorated her tree and both of them found themselves looking forward to doing it again the next day.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS. I own nothing but my imagination.

Christmas Magic-Chapter 4

**~Thanks to everyone for all of the reviews!**

* * *

The next morning at around ten o'clock, Dave found himself flitting around his cabin, finishing some last minute cleaning. He couldn't believe he was nervous about a woman coming over, he felt like he was twenty years old again and his girlfriend from back home was coming to visit his dorm for the first time.

He couldn't help his nervous cleaning, though, he wanted everything to be perfect for his weekend with JJ and Henry. As he'd driven home from their apartment the previous evening, he'd stopped and picked up a crib, changing table, baby swing, baby toys and just about anything else needed for an infant. He'd also picked up some girly smelling bubble bath, a bath poufy and some scented candles for JJ for when she soaked in the Jacuzzi.

Along with the comfort items, Dave had also picked up various foods he knew the blonde liked. Along with many types of chocolate, he made sure he had apples, bananas, oranges and grapes in the house, since those were the fruits he noticed she always took from the various continental breakfasts at the numerous hotels the team frequented. He also made sure he had steak and chicken on hand and plenty of propane for the large grill on the back deck. While it was late November and cold, nothing tasted better than grilled meat and he was willing to suffer the elements if it made the woman of his dreams happy.

As he finished dusting in the great room, he sent up a silent prayer that JJ and Henry would be happy and want to spend many more weekends, and weekdays, in his company. He'd never fallen so hard for a woman, especially a woman with a young child, but he found himself never wanting to let them leave and they hadn't even arrived yet. Speaking of which, he heard the crunch of tires out on the gravel and he knew the weekend of his dreams was about to start.

As she pulled onto the long gravel road that eventually led to Dave's cabin, JJ pondered the weekend ahead of her. If someone had told her six months ago that she would be spending Thanksgiving weekend at David Rossi's cabin, she would have suggested that they check themselves into the nearest psychiatric facility. Not that she hadn't _hoped _something would eventually happen with the legendary Lothario, heck, even when she was with Will her fantasies centered around the older agent, but she never in her wildest dreams thought anything would _actually_ happen with him. If she was honest with herself, she had to consider that things still may never happen with him. He was the hardest person on the team to read and she wasn't sure whether he'd invited them to his compound because he wanted to pursue her or if he did it out of pity for her and Henry. She really hoped it was the first reason, mainly because she wanted to start something with the living legend, but also because she didn't want his, or anyone else's, pity.

Sure, it had been hard once Will had left them. Not only was half of her income gone, but also half of her help had walked out the door. After Will had left, she'd taken a few sick days, under the guise of a mysterious flu bug, and she'd gotten her shit together. The first thing she'd done was hire a nanny. Thankfully, she'd found a part time student from Georgetown who was trying to work her way through the education department. She'd come with glowing references and she was willing to work cheap. Because she was a student, her schedule was fairly flexible and she was able to stay with Henry while she traveled out of town. While JJ had been nervous about the girl at first, Henry seemed to love her and all of the vetting Garcia had done hadn't turned up anything particularly horrible in the girl's past, so she finally came around to the idea of leaving her son in the care of a twenty year old.

The next thing she'd done was plan out a budget. She really didn't want to move from her cozy apartment because she'd finally gotten it decorated to her liking and she liked the location, which was close to a Metro stop. She'd done some creative budgeting and since she got her childcare as cheaply as she had, she'd been able to stay in her apartment but it left her with little money at the end of the month. As it was, she didn't have much of an emergency fund and her retirement account was scary, but she was fairly happy and her son was well taken care of and that's all that mattered to her.

JJ was pulled from her thoughts as she pulled up in front of Dave's 'cabin.' While he had described the monstrous log cabin as a cabin, it was really a mansion. It was a behmouth house that looked like it was made out of Lincoln Logs, and it was surrounded by heavy woods, which she was sure Dave owned. There was a wrap around porch with a large swing in the corner, and JJ found herself hoping that she would be able to try the swing out in warmer weather.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped out of the car and went around to the backseat to get Henry. As she stood up, she saw Dave making his way down the steps to the car and he wore a big smile on his face.

"Welcome to the cabin, JJ."


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS. I own nothing but my imagination.

Christmas Magic-Chapter 5

* * *

"Thanks Dave, although I wouldn't exactly call this a 'cabin'," JJ told him with a smile.

Dave shrugged, "It's made of wooden logs, hence it's a log cabin," he argued good naturedly.

JJ snorted, "Trust Dave, I've been in cabins before; cabins are four drafty walls and, if you're lucky, indoor plumbing and electricity. THIS," she said, sweeping her arms around, "is a mansion, and a really nice one at that."

Dave took the bags from her hands so she could take Henry out of his car seat, "Just wait until you see the inside,' he said. "It's a view that most people haven't seen before."

"Really?" JJ asked, "Haven't you lived here for a while? I thought this is where you wrote most of your books?"

Dave nodded as they walked up the steps to the front porch, "It is, but I prefer to write in solitude."

"What about your ex-wives, didn't they live here with you?"

"Nope," Dave said, shaking his head. "Whenever I came here to write, it was always by myself, I didn't want anyone else to ruin the tranquility for me. Other than my parents and siblings, you're the first person to see Casa de Rossi."

"Wow, Dave, I-I'm honored," JJ stammered in surprise. She was shocked that she was the first person, outside of his family, to be invited to his cabin. She would have thought that the legions of women she'd heard about would have been out here before or, at the very least, his ex-wives. Knowing she was the first gave her a thrill; it had to mean something, right? 'Get it together, JJ,' she told herself, 'He feels bad that you were alone for Thanksgiving, that's all.' She realized her that her single motherhood status, her job and her inexperience with the opposite sex didn't exactly make her a catch in the older agent's eyes and she was fooling herself to think otherwise.

Dave pushed open the front door of the cabin and allowed JJ to step through before him. As she did, she nearly dropped Henry in shock at the décor of the main room of the house. The front door opened into a giant great room that was decorated in rustic greens and browns and it held two large, overstuffed sofas that faced an entire wall of floor to ceiling windows. There was an enormous fireplace on one side of the room and a massive flat screen TV on the other side. Next to the TV, there was a sound system that looked like it rivaled many concert venues. At the back of the room, running the length of an entire wall, there were bookshelves that were filled with both books and DVD's. All in all, it was an inviting room and JJ could picture herself curled up with a book in front of a roaring fire.

Dave, seeing her studying the room, asked, "So what do you think?"

"It's gorgeous!" JJ declared in awe. "It's so warm and inviting. And the view! I could sit in here for hours just staring out at the woods."

"I've done that before," Dave admitted. "There are times I sit in here just to clear my head and the next thing I know, I've stared out the windows for hours."

He showed her around the rest of the cabin, which she drooled over, and then paused in front of a room on the second floor. "This is your room, JJ," he said as he opened the door. JJ stepped into the room and immediately fell in love. The room itself was painted light yellow with white trim and the furniture was white and it all looked as though it was antique. The bed looked comfortable and there was a large, overstuffed chair next to it. Across the room, above the large desk, was a wall-mounted flat screen TV that looked like it cost more than her car, and there was a remote control on the nightstand that had more buttons than her laptop. All in all, JJ knew she would be comfortable in this room.

"This is great Dave," she told him.

"I'm glad you like it," he said, moving to open the door on the left side of the room. "Through here is your bathroom," he said, and she squealed at the sight of the Jacuzzi. "And then through this door is Henry's room."

As she stepped through the door, JJ gave a gentle smile; the older agent had furnished a nursery for her and, from the look of it, he'd spared no expense. "My God, Dave, this is gorgeous! This is better than Henry's nursery at home!"

"You can thank the baby store in Georgetown for that," he told her. "I didn't know what I needed for a nursery, so I had them choose everything. Did they forget anything?"

JJ shook her head, unable to speak. She couldn't believe he'd set up a nursery for Henry when they would just be here for a few days. She'd never had anyone do anything like that for her before and she was truly touched by it.

"Thank you," she said as she reached up to kiss him on the cheek. As soon as she did it, she felt dumb, she never would have kissed anyone else on her team, so why him? Had she gone too far? Thankfully the older agent just smiled gently at her.

"It's my pleasure, Jen, really," he told her gently and he wasn't lying. If he had his way, both she and Henry would be making the cabin their permanent home in the near future. It made him sick to think about her returning to her tiny apartment in the shitty neighborhood that had no backyard for Henry to play in. "Why don't you get yourself and Henry settled in and I'll fix us an early lunch?"

"Sounds good, Dave," JJ agreed and then turned her attention to her luggage.

xxxxxxxxxx

Five hours later, Dave was sitting on one of the sofas in the great room, watching Henry Jareau sleeping on his blanket on the floor. As he studied the infant, his mind wandered back to the events of the day.

Once JJ and Henry had settled in, they'd eaten a simple lunch of soup and sandwiches. After the meal, they'd all bundled up and trekked out to the woods behind the cabin in order to find a Christmas tree for the great room. By the time they'd found 'the perfect tree,' according to JJ, Dave had been ready to strangle the young woman. They'd passed about ten other 'perfect trees' in his mind but according to JJ, there had been something wrong with each of them. Once she'd finally found the perfect Christmas tree, Dave hadn't seen anything different about the tree, but he'd wisely held his tongue and had begun chopping it down while JJ and Henry watched from a nearby blanket.

Dave remembered how Henry had looked around wide eyed at the forest, as if he'd never seen something so wondrous before. As he'd chopped down the large evergreen tree, Henry had giggled with every swing of the axe and as the tree finally fell, the boy had fallen into hysterical laughter. Dave wasn't quite sure what was so funny to the boy, but his laughter had been contagious and by the time the tree had hit the ground, both he and JJ had joined him in his laughter.

Once back at the cabin, they'd all changed out of their cold clothing and had gathered down in the great room. Both he and JJ had enjoyed trimming the large tree with lights, ornaments and garland and they had fallen into an easy conversation with each other. Their discussion had been interrupted numerous times by peals of laughter from the baby and it had been a wonderful afternoon. Dave felt like he had a readymade family and he didn't want to let them go.

"Penny for your thoughts?" JJ asked, coming into the room. She handed him a cup of hot cocoa and set a plate of cookies down on the coffee table before sitting down next to him, sipping from her own mug of cocoa.

"Just thinking about the fun we had today," he told her as he unconsciously wrapped his arm around her shoulders and brought her in closer to his body.

"It _was_ fun, wasn't it? I think Henry will sleep from now until Christmas morning after all of the activity from this afternoon," JJ said with a smile.

"Can I ask you a personal question, Jen?"

"Sure," she responded, somewhat nervously.

"Why didn't you go home to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving?" He wondered.

"How do you know where I'm from?" She asked, thinking one of her team members must have told him.

"I make it my business to know everything about my teammates and with my security clearance, there's not much I can't learn about each of you. The first thing I did when I returned to the Bureau was pull all of your personnel files. I know you're from Pennsylvania and I know that, as of my return, both of your parents were still alive and living there."

JJ chose to ignore his intrusion into her personal life, and sighed, "You're right, my parents do still live in Pennsylvania, but we've been on the outs since Henry was born…actually, since I announced my pregnancy."

"Let me guess, they were less than thrilled to learn that their only child had gotten pregnant out of wedlock?" He asked.

JJ nodded, "And they went nearly apoplectic when I decided not to marry Will. In my family you fall in love, get married and then have children, you don't try to raise them with your live in boyfriend. Honestly, they don't know that Will left us." She stared out the windows for a minute and then continued, "They've never even met Henry. I've invited them down to DC numerous times, but each time they've come up with some lame excuse as to why they can't come; I finally stopped issuing the invitations in order to save myself the pain of having them decline." She looked so forlorn that Dave decided not to push the issue as it nearly killed him to see her look so sad.

JJ, glad that Dave didn't ask her any more questions about her family, turned the tables on him. "What about you?" She asked, "What's your family like?"

He smiled as he thought about his large and crazy family. "Both of my parents are still alive and living in Commack, New York," he told her. "While my dad likes to think he wears the pants in the family, my mother is the one who really rules the roost."

"Any brothers or sisters?"

"Five," Dave said, shuddering a little. "I have an older sister, two younger sisters and two younger brothers. As the oldest male, I always looked out for them when they were kids. Hell, I _still _look out for them, and now I have _their_ kids to add to the list."

"Why didn't you ever have any kids of your own?" JJ asked, hoping she wasn't getting too personal with him, but it was something she'd always wondered about.

"I guess I never met the right woman," he said and JJ's heart leapt into her throat, "Besides, I always preferred being 'cool Uncle Dave,' although seeing Henry and his curiosity and happiness has changed my mind about having kids of my own," he said with a wink.

JJ, not knowing what else to say, got up from the sofa. "How about I start making supper?" Dave nodded his agreement. "Will you keep an eye on Henry?"

"Sure," Dave responded, looking at the boy with fondness.

As JJ walked back into the kitchen, she found herself irrationally thinking about the children she and Dave could produce.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS. I own nothing but my imagination.

Christmas Magic-Chapter 6

**~Thanks again to everyone for the reviews!**

* * *

Monday morning dawned cold and snowy and Penelope Garcia was glad she was ensconced in her electronic cavern with her caramel macchiato firmly in her hand. It was too early to start case work, so she entertained herself in the best way possible; she watched the security monitors at the front door and tried to guess the type of weekend her co-workers had had.

Hotch walked through the door looking exhausted and Penelope correctly guessed that he'd spent the weekend running after his son. He looked as though he was considering taking a nap in his office before the morning briefing at ten. Fifteen minutes after Hotch arrived, Agent Anderson came through the front door with a spring in his step and Garcia grinned as she wondered about the woman who had helped with that.

She kind of zoned out after Anderson came in, since her caffeine hadn't quite hit her bloodstream yet, but she perked right up once she saw her best friend in the entire world approach the front door. Specifically, it wasn't her friend that caught her attention; it was the fact that she was entering at the same time as David Rossi, and Rossi was carrying Henry and his diaper bag and he looked waaaayyyy too comfortable for them to have bumped into each other in the parking lot. As she continued to stare at the monitor, Garcia began to unconsciously profile her friend; she may not have been a profiler by profession, but she was just as capable of profiling behavior as the others on her team; it was an occupational hazard, not to mention she had keen instincts about love, and all of those instincts had just been shifted into overdrive.

Not wanting to create a scene, she watched, via the various security cameras located throughout the building, her friend and the legendary Lothario as they dropped Henry off at daycare and young Henry seemed to be reluctant to let go of Rossi. She then watched as they comfortably rode the elevator together and said a friendly goodbye as each of them went to their respective offices.

It took every bit of self-control that Garcia had not to run screaming into JJ's office to confront her over what she'd seen. Instead, she waited until she saw her other best buddy enter the building and then ran to the elevators as fast as her legs would carry her. Waiting impatiently for the lift to arrive on the sixth floor, Garcia tapped her foot, as if it would make the lift arrive sooner. As soon as the doors opened, a not quite awake Emily Prentiss stepped out.

"Oh, hi Garcia," she said, surprised to find her friend at the elevator. "How was your wee-" Whatever she'd been about to ask was cut off as Penelope yanked her arm and dragged her down the hallway to JJ's office. Once there, she gave a perfunctory knock on the door and then, without waiting for an invite, barreled in, dragging Emily in with her.

JJ looked up from her ever present paperwork, "Hi Pen, Emily; what brings you guys to my office so early?"

"The jig is up, Cupcake," Penelope said as she shut the door. Emily, still wondering what in the hell was up, flopped onto the sofa. She quickly scooted over as Garcia plopped down next to her.

"What are you talking about Pen?" JJ asked, confused.

"Don't use your blonde hair to play dumb with me, Jayje! I _saw_ you!" She said accusatorily.

"Do you know what's going on?" JJ asked Emily, who fervently wished she'd come in later.

"Not a clue," she said.

"Well let me give you two ladies a clue then," Garcia screeched, "I saw you and DAVID ROSSI enter the building at the SAME TIME and you both looked _very _cozy together!" The volume of her voice had increased with each word and, by the end, JJ's windows were nearly rattling.

"Indoor voice, Garcia!" JJ hissed, looking out the window that faced into the hallway to see if anyone had heard. Thankfully, the corridor was clear. "Do you want the entire Bureau knowing my business?"

"Sorry Cupcake, but this is HUGE! You and Rossi? It's mind blowing, I don't know why I didn't think of it before!" Garcia shrieked, a bit softer this time.

"There is no Rossi and I," JJ said, but both Emily's and Penelope's smirks just grew larger. "Seriously, we bumped into each other at the Christmas tree lot and he felt sorry for me because I couldn't get the tree by myself. Once he learned I was in town by myself for the holiday weekend, he invited Henry and I out to the cabin, but it was just a friendly gesture."

"You got an invite to the CABIN?" Emily yelled in shock.

"Em," JJ moaned, "Please, no more yelling. I'm going to be gossip fodder for a weak as it is."

"Sorry JJ, but I'm with Garcia on this one, this is HUGE!"

JJ shook her head and opened her mouth to refute Emily's statement, but the profiler wouldn't let her. "Seriously JJ, David Rossi doesn't do anything out of pity, he does things because he wants to, because they suit him, and word on the street is that he wants you to suit him, or unsuit him if you will."

"What? Where in the hell did you hear that?" JJ asked in astonishment. Could it possibly be true? Could the man she'd spent the last two years mooning over really want her?

Emily shrugged, "Hotch." When her friends continued to stare at her, she knew she had to provide more information. "Aaron and I have been hanging out more after work."

"AARON?" JJ and Penelope yelled in unison.

This time it was Emily's turn to hiss, "Shut up! Jesus, the absolute _last_ thing I need is for a rumor to start!"

"Now you know how I feel!" JJ shot back.

Shaking her head as if to clear it, Penelope mumbled, "We'll get back to that one later. But Jayje, this is really big! You've been pining over Rossi forever and now you know he feels the same way!"

"I don't know any such thing; all I have is a gesture from a friend and a second hand rumor. Besides, even if Rossi is interested in me, I'm not sure if I can put myself out there again, I don't know if I could go through another heartbreak like I did with Will."

"But Agent Moneybags is _nothing_ like Will! He might have a past, but according to my sources, which are reliable, once Rossi commits to a woman he never strays," Garcia said knowingly.

"Really?" JJ all but whispered.

Pen nodded solemnly, "Hand to God," she swore.

"The question is Jayje, what do you want to do? If there was no Henry, no sordid past with Will, what would you want to do?" Emily asked with a smile.

JJ returned the smile, but didn't answer the question. Instead she kicked her friends out of her office and spent the next hour imagining a life with David Rossi.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS. I own nothing but my imagination.

Christmas Magic-Chapter 7

**~Thanks once again to my faithful reviewers! I don't have time to thank everyone personally, but I'd like to give a shout out to: mummacass, Angel N Darkness, midmac, p95000, dustytiger, ilovetvalot, HansonFanGermany, and mrytale2-5. Your reviews rock!**

**~Thanks also to everyone who has alerted/favorited this story!**

**~I'm hoping to have Happily Ever After? updated before the holidays, but that may be a pipe dream. I'm home at my parent's house and I'm sharing a bedroom with my two sisters and a dog, so I can barely get any work done. Here's hoping!**

* * *

While the women were discussing the weekend with JJ, Rossi was discussing his weekend with Hotch.

"I'm telling you Hotch, it was like kismet; I was walking down the street when all of the sudden I heard her voice and it was like I was pulled into that tree lot," Dave told his friend.

"So you bought and lugged a Christmas tree all the way to her apartment?" Hotch asked, shaking his head. For his friend to go to so much trouble, he had to have it bad for the blonde media liaison.

"Hell no, do you think I'm crazy? I paid some guys to put it on my SUV and then I paid a couple of high school kids to set it up in her apartment. I wasn't going to do that shit by myself, but someone had to," he said and then took a drink of his dark roast coffee. "Did you know Will left her?" He asked quietly.

Hotch nodded, "I did," he admitted.

"And you didn't think to let _me _know?" Dave asked, a bit angrily. His friend _knew _how he felt about the young woman, he KNEW dammit, and he never thought to tell him when she became single? What the fuck was wrong with him?

"I didn't tell you because she _specifically_ asked me not to tell you. She knew that if you or Derek, or even Reid knew about what Will had done, you'd kill him, or at the very least you'd make him wish he was dead and she didn't want that on her conscience," Hotch told him. "She knew you'd eventually find out, but she hoped that if enough time passed, you wouldn't beat Will to a bloody pulp."

Dave snorted, "Good fucking luck with that! Does she know me at all? The only thing stopping me from killing that little fucker is that I'm still not sure of what all happened. Care to fill me in before I go off, half-cocked, looking for the soon to be dead man?"

"I will, but if JJ asks you heard it through the grapevine, okay?" Dave nodded his agreement, so Hotch started explaining. "After JJ caught Will with her old college roommate, she kicked his ass to the curb so fast I'm surprised the asshole didn't get whiplash. A few days later, Will, after moving in with said ex-roommate, decided to wash his hands of both JJ _and_ Henry. He demanded a paternity test accusing JJ of, and I'm quoting here, 'whoring herself out to anything with a pulse'."

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me!" Dave shouted, jumping up from his seat. "The little maggot fucks around on _her_ with one of her oldest friends and then he has the nerve to accuse _her_ of sleeping around? Oh, he is so fucking dead," Rossi said lethally, already planning the detective's demise.

"After that," Hotch said, pretending he hadn't heard his star profiler threaten the life of a DC detective, "He refused to send a cent of support JJ's way until she agreed to the blood test. A few weeks later they met in a coffee shop to discuss Will's demands and the paternity test and it got kind of ugly."

"Uglier than it already was?" Dave asked. Hotch could tell the man was beyond furious and a part of him was happy that he was. As the unit chief, he couldn't do much to Will, but Dave was untouchable. He could murder the asshole on national TV and walk away scot free.

Hotch nodded, "I didn't think Will could sink any lower, but he did. JJ had brought me along in case Will decided to get physical-"

"Did that happen, Aaron? Did he touch her in anger?" Dave asked quietly. Hotch shook his head, well aware that he'd just saved Will LaMontagne from a long and painful death. He knew that his friend held women in the highest regard and he had little use for men who hurt them.

"No, instead he called her a frigid, uncaring bitch and then he implied that her iciness in bed had driven him to another woman."

"He actually had the nerve to blame it all on her?" Dave didn't know what to do first, kill Will or engulf JJ into a giant hug.

"Yes, and _then_ he threw a waiver of paternity at her; one that was signed and dated two weeks before Henry was even born. I talked to JJ about it later and she said Will had never wanted the baby, he'd tried pressuring JJ into having an abortion, but she wouldn't." Hotch sat back and watched his friend's face change colors. It went from red, to deep red, to bright purple and at one point Hotch wondered if he would need to call 911 for him.

"He's dead," Rossi finally said. "And then I'm going to revive him so I can kill him again." Rossi wasn't kidding about the last part; he was friends with a doctor, one who owed him a few favors, and he was going to collect on them.

Hotch shook his head, "I can't know anything about this, but I _can _tell you that JJ would be devastated if Will somehow wound up murdered. She would know that it was one of us and she doesn't want that on her conscience," he reiterated.

Rossi thought for a minute, "Fine, I won't kill him, but I'm going to make him _wish_ he was dead."

"Again, I didn't hear that, but have whatever associate you're going to call pound him a couple of times for me," Hotch said with a grim smile.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS. I own nothing but my imagination.

Christmas Magic-Chapter 8

* * *

Ten minutes later, Dave found himself outside of Penelope Garcia's technical lair. He could admit to himself that he was more than a little frightened of the flamboyant woman. The things she could do with computers scared the living shit out of him, and he didn't scare very easily.

He tentatively knocked on the door and heard a cheery "Come in!" Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door open and came face to face with the cheery technical analyst.

"Agent Rossi!" She said, surprised. "What brings you to my neck of the woods? You usually avoid this place like the plague."

"I wish I still could," he muttered under his breath, looking fearfully at all of the wires and keyboards. Mustering up his courage, he sat down in one of the empty chairs and faced Garcia. "Look Garcia, I'm going to be totally up front with you; I know what happened between JJ and Will and I'm willing to bet that, as JJ's best friend, you do too."

Garcia let out a breath, she hadn't been expecting this. "How did you find out?"

"Hotch."

"Of course," Garcia said darkly, "The bossman never _could_ keep a secret!"

"He kept it from me for over four months," Dave told her, "But I'm not down here to discuss Hotch."

"Then why _are _you down here, sir?"

He looked her in the eye, "I think it's time Will got his comeuppance, don't you?"

"Sir," Garcia said hesitantly, "I told JJ-"

"I know what you told JJ, you told her you wouldn't fuck with his life, but don't you think he deserves payback, Garcia?" Dave goaded. "Do you think it's fair that he got to cheat on JJ and then accuse _her_ of being a whore? Do you think its right that he just walked away from Henry like he was a feral cat? Don't you think he deserves to be punished?"

Garcia tried to let the angel on her shoulder talk down the devil on her other shoulder, but it didn't work. After a few minutes of silence, where her inner dilemma played out on her face, she finally nodded her agreement with the older agent.

"You're right, sir," she said. "He _does_ deserve to be punished, but if JJ ever finds out we've never met, capisce?"

"Understood Garcia. If JJ finds out, I'll take on her wrath by myself," he promised. He smiled as Penelope turned around, faced her screens and began furiously typing. "Dare I ask what you're doing?" He asked.

"Right now, I'm putting him on some government lists. Lists like the no-fly list, the registered sex offender list and the known enemy combatant list. After that, I'm going to fuck with his banking records, his credit rating and anything else I can find. I'm not going to kill him, but he's going to wish he was dead!" She told him, menacingly.

Dave laughed, "That's exactly what I was hoping for Garcia, thanks."

"No, thank _you_ sir! I've been wanting to do this for nearly five months now! I just wish I could beat the crap out of the asshole." The normally non-violent Penelope Garcia was out for blood; no one fucked with her friends.

"I can't help you there, since I promised Hotch I wouldn't touch the little magnet, but do you want to hear how I'm going to arrange for him to be hurt?" Dave asked. Garcia nodded, so Dave placed a call on his cell phone and turned the speakerphone on.

"Davie, how are you?" His cousin Vinnie asked, as he recognized the number on his caller ID.

"I'm good Vinnie, how are you and the kids?"

"Good, good. My Mary Elizabeth is in her second year of college already!" Vinnie told him proudly.

"Wow, time really flies by, doesn't it?" Dave asked rhetorically. "Listen Vin, I'm actually calling about business."

"What can I do for you, Dave?"

"I'm going to email you a bunch of information on a man named William LaMontagne. This guy is a real asshole Vin, and he hurt someone I care about," Dave growled. "This woman is dear to my heart and I want this prick to pay."

"You want him to pay all of the way, Dave?" Vinnie asked.

"No, but I want him to hurt. I need him alive because I need you to convince him to both begin paying child support to his ex-girlfriend, and he needs to know that he's used up his welcome in the DC metro area. In fact, I think it would be better for everyone if he just returned to the bayou from where he came," Dave said and Garcia grinned.

"Okay Davie, you send me the info and I'll have it done by this time tomorrow," Vinnie promised.

"One more thing, Vin; I want him to pay child support, but you need to make it clear that he should never try to contact his son or Jennifer again," Dave instructed.

There was a pause, "Is this _the_ Jennifer, Dave?" Vinnie asked. If it was the woman that Dave had talked about since his return to the FBI, then he was getting off rather easily.

Dave shot a look at Garcia, who was grinning like the cat that ate the canary, "It is Vin," he admitted, "You got everything you need?"

"Yup," Vinnie said, "You email me the info and I'll get right on it."

"Thanks Vinnie, just send me the bill afterwards." With that, Dave disconnected the call and closed his eyes. He didn't have to wait for Garcia's reaction for too long.

"I KNEW IT!" She screeched, "I _knew_ you had a thing for JJ! I told her, I TOLD her that David Rossi doesn't invite a woman to his cabin just because she's his 'friend!' Plus, you look at her as though she's a steak and you're starving!"

"You're right Garcia," Dave admitted quietly, "I've been in love with JJ since I started back at the BAU."

"Ohmigod! Agent Rossi, she has feelings for you too!" Garcia said, feeling like a teenager again. She felt like she was gossiping in study hall.

"Really?" He whispered; it was almost too much to hope for.

Penelope emphatically nodded her head, "She's been pining away for you since before Will even entered the picture and I know she still feels the same way, but she's hesitant to enter into another relationship after the way things ended with the asshole. If you want her, you're going to have to take it slowly, otherwise you'll spook her."

"Thanks Garcia," Dave said, getting up, "Really, you have no idea how much you've helped me today." He turned to leave, but was stopped by her voice.

"Sir?" She asked, her voice deadly, "While I'm all in favor of you pursuing our little JJ, if you hurt her, if you fuck with her emotions, what I'm doing to Will will seem like a walk in the park compared to what I'll do to you. Got it?"

Dave swallowed hard, "Understood Garcia."

"Well then, good luck sir."

xxxxxxxxxx

Two hours later, Dave was sitting in his office reviewing some paperwork. As he stared at the words on the page, he considered shooting himself in the foot just to get out of filling out all of the bureaucratic bullshit, but he didn't want to maim himself before Christmas. As he reached for another file, he heard a light knock on his door.

"Come in," he called. He didn't care who it was, he would invite Satan himself into his office if it distracted him from all of the various forms on his desk. He smiled as he saw JJ step into his office carrying two cups of coffee.

"I figured you could use an extra jolt today, you know, since you're stuck in paperwork hell," she said, setting one of the cups down in front of him. "Dark roast with two sugars, right?"

"Right," he said as he picked up the cup and took a large draw from it. He watched as JJ sat down in one of the visitor chairs in front of his desk. He could easily get used to seeing her in his office on a regular basis.

"I just want to thank you again for this weekend, Dave. It was nice getting out of the city for awhile and I know Henry had fun. I'm surprised he took to you so fast, usually he needs a little while to get used to new people," JJ told him.

"I'm actually kind of surprised I took to him so well, too," Dave admitted. "I don't have much experience around children, but other than the diaper changing snafu, I think we did alright." On Sunday morning Dave had awoken to the sounds of Henry fussing. Deciding to let JJ sleep in for once, Dave attempted to change Henry's diaper. It didn't go well. First, Dave miscalculated the number of wipes he would need; he originally thought one or two would suffice and he'd been dead wrong about that. Finally, after he'd gotten Henry cleaned up, he realized that he'd never actually put a diaper on a baby before. As he was trying to figure the thing out, Henry decided to baptize his pajamas, which wasn't exactly the way Dave had hoped to start his day. Then finally, he attempted to put the diaper on the baby but he had problems with that since the diapers didn't exactly come with directions. He tried three times before JJ, who had been standing behind him in the doorway watching the entire time, had finally come in and helped him out. It had been a long morning, but eventually Dave learned the fine art of changing a baby.

As JJ thought back to that morning, she felt a rush of affection for the profiler sitting in front of her. She didn't remember Dave's ineptitude in diapering her child, or the curse words he muttered in front of the impressionable baby. Instead, what she remembered was that he'd thought about her needs, he was willing to sacrifice his own sleep and his own time in order to let her get some much needed rest. Will hadn't done that on his best days; in fact, even while JJ was suffering though a bout of the flu, Will hadn't gotten up with the baby, he'd left Henry's diaper for her.

"It really wasn't a big deal, Jen," Dave said, pulling her from her reverie. "I had a lot of fun with you and Henry and you were a big help with trimming the tree."

"Still," JJ said, taking another sip from her coffee, "If there's anything I can ever do for you, just let me know."

'How about you let me ravish you and take you to bed for an entire weekend?' He thought, but luckily the filter between his brain and his mouth was working and he didn't verbalize his thoughts. "You know how you can pay me back?" He asked.

"How?" JJ asked, perking up.

"You can teach me how to cook," he said sheepishly. JJ raised an eyebrow, so he explained. "My parents and siblings are coming to my place for a Christmas get together on December 23 and I can't cook a damn thing. It's always been my mother's one disappointment in me and I would love to be able to cook a nice dinner for them. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, just something that everyone can eat without visiting the ER afterward."

JJ smiled gently; she thought it was cute that the big, bad profiler was trying to make his mother happy. "I would glad to teach you how to cook, Dave. Do you want to come to my apartment after work sometime this week?"

Dave shook his head, "I should probably learn on my own turf; how about you and Henry come back out to the cabin this weekend? That way you'll be able to give me some intense lessons and maybe they'll sink in faster."

JJ flushed at the thought of going back out to his cabin, "All right Dave, Henry and I will plan on staying at your place again."

Dave wanted to jump for joy, but he just smiled, "Thanks JJ, oh and bring a fire extinguisher with you."


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS. I own nothing but my imagination.

Christmas Magic-Chapter 9

* * *

The week flew by for JJ and she soon found herself driving behind Dave to his cabin. Dave had suggested she and Henry come up Friday night and JJ had readily agreed, packing a go bag for both herself and her son. As they pulled up to the mansion, she saw Dave had left some lights on during the day and it gave the behemoth house a warm, welcoming feeling.

Once Dave's SUV came to a complete stop in front of the cabin, he cut the motor, got out and went to help JJ unload her things. Opening the back door, he greeted a sleepy Henry.

"How are you doing, son?" He asked as if he expected an answer. The baby gave him a tired smile and then went back into his doze. Dave struggled for a minute with the straps of his car seat, but finally got the boy loose and passed him to his mother while he got the bags. He led them into the house and JJ set Henry down in his crib, while Dave set out the Chinese food they'd brought with them. Once JJ was done getting Henry down for the night, they put a movie in the DVD player and ate their dinner in the great room in front of the large plasma screen TV.

After dinner, they were both exhausted from the week, so they both retired early. As Dave changed into his pajamas he heard Henry stir and then almost immediately heard JJ soothe the baby. His heart swelled with love as he heard her softly sing a lullaby to her son.

The next morning dawned cloudy and cold and Dave could smell the snow in the air. Most people laughed at him when he said that, but he had a sixth sense when it came to winter weather and he could tell there would be a snowstorm later that day. As he made his way down to the first floor of the cabin, he could smell breakfast cooking and he began to drool. He walked into the kitchen and found JJ and Henry there; Henry was sitting in his highchair munching on some cheerios, while JJ was at the stove scrambling eggs.

"God Jen, it smells_ wonderful_ in here!" He exclaimed as he came up behind her. He watched the way she easily maneuvered around the stove, knowing the exact right time to pull the eggs from the heat.

"Eat up Rossi because this is the last meal I'll make today; the rest will be made by you," JJ told him.

"I hope you have a strong stomach," he muttered as he helped bring the juice, toast, potatoes and fruit over to the table. He spooned some of everything onto his plate and dug in. He ate as though he hadn't eaten in ten years and JJ watched him with an amused smile as he plowed through his food.

"What?" He asked when he finally noticed her staring.

"You _have _eaten this week, right?" She asked.

"Yeah, I've eaten takeout all week," he grunted. "Trust me, I make a glutton out of myself when there's home cooking available."

JJ laughed, "Soon you'll be able to cook for yourself."

"I'll tell you JJ, it will tickle my mother if you're actually able to activate my Italian cooking gene.

"We will Dave, compared to chasing down unsubs, cooking should be a breeze."

xxxxxxxxxx

Four hours later, JJ had no idea just how wrong her statement would be. "How do you burn mashed potatoes?" She asked in amazement. "You peel the potatoes, slice them, boil them and then mash them; it's the easiest side dish on the _planet_ to make! How did you burn them?" While she was teasing him, she was struck by how _right_ everything felt. She could get used to piddling around the kitchen with Dave and her son.

Unbeknownst to her, Dave was thinking the same thing. As he was breathing in the acrid smoke, he thought about how natural it seemed to have JJ and Henry in his kitchen helping him cook. He hoped he'd be able to make their presence in his cabin permanent in the near future. "I don't know JJ," Dave said testily as he waved a towel in front of the beeping smoke alarm. "I thought I was supposed to keep the burner on afterward, I didn't want them to get cold."

"But-but you set them on _fire_! How does that even happen?"

"I didn't major in chemistry or physics in college, JJ," Dave said, barely reigning in his annoyance. "If you want answers to those questions, you'll have to ask Dr. Reid."

"But you _did_ graduate from college, right? You _can _follow basic directions, correct?" Dave just glowered at her and JJ knew she should shut up before she really pissed the profiler off. "I'm sorry Dave; I've just never seen someone so inept at basic kitchen skills before."

Dave was about to snap at her when her phone rang. JJ looked down at the display and gasped, "I have to take this Dave," she said as she lifted the phone to her ear.

"My study is the second door on the right, you can take it in there," he told her, wondering who was on the other end of the line. For the next ten minutes he cleaned up and tried to listen to her end of the conversation, but his study was well sound proofed and he couldn't hear anything.

Finally, after another ten minutes, JJ came back into the kitchen in somewhat of a daze.

"Hey, I know I can't cook, but I set out sandwich fixings. It's not a glamorous dinner, but I figure it's better than my blackened potatoes, or my raw chicken."

"Okay Dave," JJ said, not paying much attention to her surroundings. They fixed their sandwiches in silence and then sat down at the table in the breakfast nook. Seeing her pick at her sandwich, Dave felt he _had _to ask her about her phone call.

"Penny for your thoughts?" He asked, as he spooned some green goop into Henry's mouth. JJ was too distracted to even perform that simple task.

"That was Will on the phone," JJ said, somewhat coolly and Dave immediately knew he was in the doghouse with the young woman.

"What did he want?" Dave asked, trying to keep his voice even.

"He's moving back to Louisiana," she said, less in a daze now. "But he wanted to let me know to expect a check for back child support. He also said that while he doesn't want a relationship with Henry, he'll send child support checks regularly from now on."

"Wow, that was a good stroke of luck," Dave said, not looking at her. Instead, he focused on feeding her son until the glare nearly bored through his head. He set the green goo down and looked at the beauty, "What JJ?" He asked with a sigh.

"Are you honestly going to sit there and try to deny that you had anything to do with this? Am I really supposed to believe that this is all coincidental? What did you do Dave, go and threaten him?" JJ asked.

"_No_," he said defensively, "I had a guy do that; I'm clean."

"Dammit Dave, I can fight my own battles, I don't need _you_ or anyone else to fight them for me!" She shouted.

"I wasn't trying to fight your battles, Jen, I was simply trying to help a friend. You need that money and you're entitled to it. He's Henry's _father_ for fuck's sake and the bastard should support his son! I was just trying to help!"

"I _don't _need to be taken care of, by you or any other man!"

"What in the hell is that supposed to mean? Is that some of your feminist bullshit, because I gotta tell you sweetheart, _someone _needed to step in since you weren't doing a goddamn thing to help you _or_ your son!" Dave thundered.

"How DARE you-" JJ started, but Dave didn't let her finish.

"I'll do any Goddamn thing I want and, lucky for you, I want to help you!" Seeing JJ shake her head, Dave put up a hand. "This isn't about me, or any other man taking care of you; it's about me seeing a friend in need and being in a position to help. I would have done the same thing for Hotch or Morgan."

"Yeah, but it looks-" Once again, Dave cut her off.

"I don't give a good Goddamn how it looks, it needed to be done! Would it make you feel better to know that my partner in crime was a woman?" Dave asked, mentally wincing; he had promised Garcia he would keep her out of this, and he hadn't meant to let knowledge of her involvement slip out. He knew there would be repercussions for her from JJ, which meant there would be repercussions for him from the slightly demented technical analyst.

"A woman?" JJ asked, more to herself than to him, "Who could-" Dave could see the light bulb go on in her head, and the angry look came back. "Garcia, of course! I should've known!"

Dave nodded, as long as he was throwing the woman under the bus, he might as well make sure she was completely run over. "In my defense, it didn't take much goading on my part to get her to work her magic."

"No, it wouldn't have; she wanted to cut Will's balls off the very afternoon I caught him in bed with my friend," JJ muttered. "How did you even find out about it?" She was still pissed at him for his involvement, but the intellectual part of her knew he _was_ just trying to help, albeit in twisted way.

"Hotch," Dave said and JJ nodded knowingly.

"Garcia always said he couldn't keep a secret to save his life and now I know what she was talking about."

"Look Jen, I'm sorry we went behind your back and got involved, but it needed to be done, honey."

"I know Dave, but I didn't want everyone to know about this, I just wanted to handle it myself," she said, nearly in tears.

"Hey," he said and she looked up at him, "We're a family and this is what family does. If Will fucks with one of us then he fucks with all of us."

JJ gave him a watery smile, "Thanks Dave," she said, not sure whether she was thanking him for his help, or just for being there for her.

"Any time, Jennifer," he said as he picked up Henry and then led them both to the great room. Once there, he laid Henry down on a blanket and started a fire in the fireplace. Then he and JJ sat on the sofa and watched the falling snow until they both fell into a light sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS. I own nothing but my imagination.

Christmas Magic-Chapter 10

**~Again, a HUGE thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story!**

* * *

They caught a case that following Monday and it kept them out of town for nearly two weeks. Much to the dismay of the entire BAU team, they arrived back in DC just in time for the annual FBI Christmas Gala. Normally none of them would have gone to such an event, preferring instead to go and grab a beer or two to celebrate the end of a grueling case, but the higher ups had been complaining about the lack of BAU presence at Bureau functions so Strauss had made the party mandatory for the entire team. As much as they liked solving the case, and they obviously didn't want any more victims, a small part of everyone on the team wished the case could have lasted just a little bit longer so they wouldn't have had to go to the gala.

Dave, having finished the requisite paperwork for the case, left his office and made his way down to JJ's. He stood in the doorway for a moment, just watching her, before knocking lightly on the open door.

JJ looked up when she heard the knock. "Hey Dave," she said tiredly. "What can I do for you?"

"Are you going to this dog and pony show tonight?" He asked her.

JJ nodded, "Strauss made it clear that anyone who wanted to continue working in the BAU needed to be there tonight."

"Wanna go to this thing together?" He asked, hoping like hell she'd say yes.

She thought about it for a minute and then nodded, "Sure. I have Henry staying with the nanny and I have my dress and makeup here, so I don't have to go home beforehand. Do you need to go to the cabin to get ready?"

Dave shook his head, "I have my tux here as well. Why don't you start getting ready and I'll stop by your office in an hour to pick you up?" It wasn't a real date, since they were going from the BAU headquarters to the hotel where the shindig was being held, but Dave still felt like an excited sixteen year old arranging his first date.

"Sounds good," she said, shutting her laptop. "I think we're the only ones here, so at least I'll have the shower to myself in the women's locker room." She said as she grabbed her makeup bag and garment bag and headed down the hall. As Dave watched her go, he wondered if she was trying to be deliberately cruel by putting the image of her in the shower into his head.

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An hour later, Dave found himself once again knocking on JJ's office door. After hearing the soft, "Come in," he pushed the door open and saw one of the most beautiful sights he'd ever seen. JJ was standing there in an emerald green dress that had spaghetti straps, a fitted bodice and a skirt that flared over her hips and ended just above the knee. She paired that with tasteful gold jewelry and understated makeup. Along with her flawless skin and slightly done up hair, she was the most mesmerizing woman he'd ever seen.

"Dave? Dave? Earth to Dave?" He finally heard. JJ had been talking to him and he hadn't been aware of it. He shook his head, as if to clear it.

"Sorry Jennifer, I just can't get over how beautiful you are," he told her, swallowing hard.

JJ's cheeks reddened slightly, "Thanks Dave; you look pretty good yourself," she said, looking him up and down. She always knew that Dave was one of those men who got more handsome as he aged and tonight proved it. He was standing there in his Armani tux with a gold plated watch and his ever present FBI ring, and she was filled with a sudden urge to push him down onto her sofa and ravage him, right there in her office. Hiding a smile at her own thoughts, she quickly composed herself and put on her high heeled shoes.

"Ready?" She asked, as she picked up her purse.

"As ready as I'll ever be," he grumbled. "Remind me to fuck with Erin Strauss' life after the holidays as payback for forcing us to go to this shindig." He sounded annoyed, but deep down he was grateful to the Section Chief for making them go, as it got him a pseudo-date with his dream girl.

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JJ could feel everyone's eyes on them as they entered the ballroom of the Capital Hilton Hotel, and she mentally groaned. She knew exactly what this looked like to everyone and she knew she would have to answer many questions from both Emily and Penelope the next day. Hell, from the way they were staring at her, she knew she'd have to field questions from Reid and Morgan too. Taking a deep breath, she strolled up to the BAU table with Dave and pretended nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Hi everybody," she said cheerily and then forced herself to dial it down. Dave, who was standing next to her, gave a snort at her attempt to play it cool.

"Tell me this thing has an open bar," he said desperately.

"Yeah, if you like shitty beer and even shittier wine," Derek said, "Otherwise you'll need to take out a bank loan if you want any alcohol."

He looked around at his miserable co-workers, "First round is on me; what does everyone want?"

The prospect of free liquor perked everyone up and they gave him their drink orders. JJ accompanied him to the bar to help him get the drinks and that's when the trouble started.

"JJ, I didn't think you'd be here this evening," the media liaison heard from behind her. She turned around to see Agent Jamison from cybercrimes standing behind her. She'd seen Jamison around the building and he'd subtly hit on her in the past, but each time she'd gently brushed him off.

"Agent Jamison, it's good to see you," she said warmly. The young agent wasn't a bad guy; it's just that he didn't know when to quit trying. "I wasn't planning on coming, but my section chief made the BAU's presence mandatory. How are things in cybercrimes?" She asked, not seeing Dave turn around to watch the pair.

"We're actually kind of slow right now, which gives me time to listen to the rumor mill. Speaking of which," he segued, not-so-smoothly, "Did I hear you broke up with that Cajun boyfriend of yours?"

JJ nodded, "I did, a few months ago in fact."

"I'm sorry to hear that, I know how it is when a long-term relationship ends, but maybe now you'll give me a chance?" He asked hopefully.

JJ was about to respond when Dave broke in, "Maybe not," he said, menacingly as he slipped his arm around JJ's waist.

JJ didn't know who was more surprised by the action, Agent Jamison or herself. "Rob, have you met David Rossi? He's a colleague of mine at the BAU and I'm here with him tonight."

"Agent Rossi, it's an honor, sir. I was just reading one of your books the other day, and I-"

"That's great kid, now if you'll excuse us, we have to get back to our team," Dave interrupted. "Come on JJ," he said, taking three drinks in one hand and her hand in the other.

JJ, who was startled to say the least, picked up the other drinks in her free hand and followed Rossi back to the table. Once there, she set the drinks down and then sat there and seethed at Dave's behavior towards her and Agent Jamison.

As the night wore on, she watched Dave pretend that nothing had happened, and she watched as he joked with the members of their team and she became angrier and angrier. Finally, after two hours of pretending she was fine, she'd finally had enough.

"If you guys will excuse me, I think I'm going to head home. I'm exhausted and I've been here for two hours which should fulfill Strauss' requirement for this evening," she told them, not meeting Dave's eye.

The team, knowing that something had happened between her and the older agent, but not knowing exactly what it was, all nodded. With the mood she was in, no one was willing to cross her, not even Hotch.

She stood up, grabbed her purse off of the table and made her way to the coat check line. As she waited for the clerk to retrieve her wrap, she heard footsteps behind her and then she smelled a familiar cologne. Taking her wrap from the girl, she turned and found herself standing face to face with the one man she was trying to avoid.

"Ready?" He asked as he pulled his car keys from his pocket.

"Stay here, Dave, I'll take a cab home."

"A cab ride to your place will be expensive, and I don't want you out and about alone this late at night. We came together and we'll leave together. I'll drop you off at your place and then you can call me tomorrow when you get up and I'll take you to your car at headquarters."

"Fine," JJ said, not arguing. She could feel a headache building behind her eyes and she just wanted to get home.

Ten minutes later, they were sitting in a hellacious traffic jam when Rossi spoke up. "Wanna tell me what was wrong with you back there?" He asked, honestly not knowing why she seemed so pissed at him.

"Really? You really have to ask that?" JJ said sharply, feeling some of her anger return.

"Evidently I do, seeing as I have no idea what I did to piss you off."

"How about the way you treated Agent Jamison? He's a friend of mine, Dave, and you treated him like he was a peon not worth your time!"

"He was hitting on you right in front of me!" Dave shot back, "What the hell was I supposed to do?"

"So what if he was? You and I aren't a 'you and I!' We went to this thing as friends, as co-workers and nothing about that relationship gives you the right to act like you _own_ me. Hell, even if we _were_ a couple, that STILL wouldn't give you the right!" JJ shouted, all of her frustration pouring out. God, how she wished they were a couple, but since that wasn't the case, how dare the man sitting next to her keep her from talking to another guy!

"I'm sorry JJ, it was rude! I don't care if we _were_ there as friends, you were with me and _both_ of you should have known that!"

"We were just talking Dave," JJ said, exasperated. "I was talking to a friend, that's all, there was nothing rude about it."

Not wanting to alienate the feisty blonde any further, Dave decided to surrender, "I'm sorry JJ, it looked like more than that to me, but I should have known you wouldn't have done that to me."

"You're damn right I wouldn't!" She said, but his apology had melted most of her anger; she knew how hard it was for him to say those three words. "But I forgive you," she said with a slight smile.

"Do you forgive me enough to continue my cooking lessons? My family will be at my cabin for dinner on Saturday," he reminded her as traffic finally began moving again.

"It would be easier to negotiate world peace than it would to have you cook an edible meal by the weekend," she said with a smile.

"Hey!" Dave exclaimed in mock offense.

"I'll tell you what, Henry and I will come over Saturday afternoon and I'll help you cook the meal for Saturday night, okay?"

"Okay," he said, thrilled that she would be there for the upcoming weekend. "Come Friday night, that way you won't have to get up early on Saturday."

"Alright," she agreed as they pulled into her apartment complex.

Dave, being the gentleman that he was, walked her to her door. "Thanks for going with me tonight, JJ, even if I _was_ an ass."

"It's alright Dave, I'm used to it," she said with a smile as she unlocked her door.

Wearing a smile of his own, Dave unconsciously bent down and gave her a light kiss on the lips. The light kiss turned into a heavier one and they finally pulled apart after about thirty seconds.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry JJ, its habit for me to kiss women goodnight," he said. "Look, I'll see you on Monday, okay?" Not waiting for an answer, a flustered David Rossi bolted down the hallway and down the stairs.

JJ, who was stunned by both the kiss and Dave's reaction, slowly closed the door. She knew she would be replaying that kiss over and over in her mind for hours to come.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS. I own nothing but my imagination.

Christmas Magic-Chapter 11

* * *

Neither of JJ or Dave mentioned the goodnight kiss at work the following Monday; they were both afraid that if they talked about it, their easy relationship would be ruined. Instead, they both pretended as though it had never happened and it seemed to work for them. The next week flew by and, before they knew it, it was Saturday afternoon and both of them were working in Dave's kitchen.

"I have it timed so that the rosemary chicken should be done fifteen minutes before the parsley buttered potatoes," she told him, as she coated the potatoes in melted butter. "Just open up the bag salad right before they're scheduled to arrive, put it in a bowl and put the bowl in the fridge and you should be fine, they'll be none the wiser." She set the utensils in the sink and moved towards Henry, who was sitting in a highchair watching as JJ and Dave prepared the meal for his family.

"Um, Jen? Why are you telling me this like you're not going to be here?"

She blinked, "Because I'm _not _going to be here. This is a family function, Dave and I'm not family."

"Bullshit!" He exclaimed, "You're as much a family member to me as anyone! Besides, you've _got_ to be here, I can't do this alone!" He sounded panicked at the end and it was all JJ could do to keep from laughing.

"You _can_ do this by yourself; all of the food is prepared, now it's just a matter of putting it in the oven at the correct time and pulling it out before it gets overcooked," JJ told him with a smile.

"You _can't _leave me," he said, shaking his head, "What if something goes wrong?"

"I'm just a phone call away; you're a big boy Dave, you can handle this."

"Uh-uh," he said, snatching her keys off of the counter and putting them in his pocket. "Now you can't leave, unless you want to take a very long walk."

"Are you kidding me?" JJ asked loudly. She wasn't angry, she was amused by his sheer terror of serving a meal on his own. He faced down the worst of humanity on a daily basis, but God forbid he disappoint his parents!

"See? That's how desperate I am, JJ! I'm willing to kidnap a federal agent for Christ's sake!" Dave said in a high pitched voice.

Laughing, she finally relented, "Fine Dave, I'll stay, but I look like shit. Will you keep an eye on Henry while I shower and change?"

"You look great JJ, but yeah, I'll do anything if it means you'll stay. Does Henry need a college fund? How about you, do you want a new car?" He asked, not joking.

"All I need is a babysitter, Dave," she said as she walked out of the kitchen and went up the stairs. Dave could hear her giggling at his offers the entire time and it was music to his ears.

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An hour later, just as he was putting the chicken in the oven, he heard the doorbell ring. As he picked Henry up from his highchair, he glanced at the clock and smiled; it had to be his parents since his siblings subscribed to the 'within a half hour' rule; meaning that they considered it to be on time if they arrived at a function within half an hour of the scheduled start time.

"Okay Henry, get ready to have the stuffing hugged out of you! My mother hasn't held a baby in years, so she probably won't let go of you all night. Hell, JJ will be lucky if she doesn't take you home." Dave tickled the boy as he made his way to the foyer, and the baby was laughing as he opened the door.

"Hi ma, hi dad, come on in," he said, holding the door open for them. Since he was holding Henry on one hip, he gave each of his parents one armed hugs as they crossed over the threshold. "Can I take your coats?" He asked politely.

"Are we really going to ignore the fact that you're holding a baby, son?" His mother asked.

Dave grinned, "Ma, meet Henry Jareau; his mother Jennifer is upstairs getting ready."

"Jennifer? As in _the_ Jennifer? The one you work with? The one I've heard all about since you returned to your dangerous and crazy job?" She asked in glee. While her son had been married three times previous and he'd had legions of 'lady friends,' she'd never heard him speak about a woman with such reverence as he had this Jennifer person. She could tell that her son was head over heels in love with her, and if he had learned how to take care of a baby, then so much the better.

Dave nodded, "That's the one, although I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell her all of that; I don't want to come across as a crazy, obsessed stalker." He took their coats with his free hand and struggled with both them and the squirmy infant in his other arm.

"Give me the baby, Davie," his mother ordered, holding out her arms.

Dave grinned, "See? I told you Henry; she hasn't been here two minutes and already she wants to hold you."

His father, being the strong, silent type, chuckled, "You'll be lucky to get him back, son," he warned.

His mother was about to retort back when they heard footsteps on the staircase. "Dave, did you put the chicken in the oven yet?" JJ asked and then realized they weren't alone. "Oh, hello; you must be Dave's parents." Her heart softened as she saw the older woman holding her son tenderly; it saddened her that a stranger showed Henry more affection than his own grandmother did.

"Jen, these are my parents, Gisella and Edoardo Rossi. Ma, dad, this is Jennifer Jareau, my good friend and colleague," Dave introduced.

"It's a pleasure to meet both of you," JJ said, holding out her hand. Gisella stared at it for a minute before handing Henry back to her son. Ignoring the outstretched hand, she pulled JJ into a bone crushing hug.

"The pleasure is all ours, Jennifer," she said as she finally released the young woman. As soon as she did, she motioned for her son to hand Henry back to her and Dave, not wanting to die a slow and painful death at her hand, readily complied.

"Please, call me JJ," she told the older woman.

"And you call me either Gisella or Ma," Gisella told her absently as she cooed at the baby.

Dave's father pulled her into the same tight hug as his wife had. As he released her, he said, "And you can call me Eddie or just dad."

JJ, overwhelmed by the love she felt from the two virtual strangers in front of her, nodded her head mutely. She hadn't felt affection from her own parents in over a year and she wanted to cry at the warmth Dave's parents had shown her.

She was just starting to blink back tears when the doorbell rang again. She watched as a grin came over Dave's face and he started for the door. "Brace yourself honey," he warned her. "It's about to get a lot crazier in here."


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS. I own nothing but my imagination.

Christmas Magic-Chapter 12

* * *

Overwhelmed didn't come close to describing how JJ felt. Between Dave's parents, siblings, nieces and nephews, JJ felt like she had wandered into some sort of family reunion on crack. Having grown up as an only child in a family where emotions were usually kept in check, sitting around the dinner table with dozens of Rossi's, all of them showing their outgoing personalities, was a new and somewhat terrifying experience for her. Thankfully, they all seemed to like her and Henry and she'd gotten them to talk about Dave and his childhood.

During one particularly embarrassing story, one in which JJ would have damn near sold her soul for a recording device, Dave finally interrupted the flow of less than complimentary information to his colleague, a colleague who would have no problem blackmailing him later.

"Okay, okay, that's enough humiliating stories," he said, somewhat testily. "Does anyone want more chicken before I put it away?" One of his brothers and two of his nephews clamored for more food and he passed it to them before taking it back.

"You stay here with your family Dave, I'll put the food away," JJ said as she started to rise from her seat. Between Dave's mother and older sister, she didn't have to worry about Henry and she thought she should help him since she'd made most of the mess while cooking.

Dave put his hand up, "Sit down Jennifer, I've got this," he said as he cleared away some of the plates. He didn't notice his sisters all staring at him in a stunned silence and once he was out of the room, the silence turned to noisy chatter.

"Oh. My. God!" Adriana, the youngest sister, exclaimed. "Did you _see_ that? Did you?"

Giada, the middle sister, nodded and tried to regain her sense of speech. "He…he cleared the table! He actually picked the dishes up and brought them to the kitchen!"

Sofia, the oldest daughter joined the conversation, "I NEVER thought I'd see that happen!" She turned to JJ, "Oh, he has it bad for you, honey!"

"What are you talking about?" JJ asked, as Dave's father, brothers and nephews excused themselves to the great room to watch a sporting event on ESPN.

"I _mean_," Sofia said, "That in his fifty-one years of life, I don't think I've _ever_ seen Dave willingly clear away the table. We usually had to terrorize and threaten him into doing it."

"And when that didn't work," Adriana jumped in, "Ma usually had to force him with the threat of the wooden spoon hanging over him."

"Seriously JJ, the man's been married three times, and I'd be willing to bet that he _never_ washed a single dish for any of those women," Giada told her.

JJ pondered what they were saying for a minute, until Henry started fussing in his high chair. She had only gotten about an inch off of her seat before both Adriana and Mrs. Rossi stopped her. "We've got him, Jennifer," Dave's mother told her. "You just sit and relax."

xxxxxxxxxx

It took Dave nearly an hour to clear the table and wash the dishes in the kitchen and by the time he was done, he vowed to never touch another dish again. He knew he'd tipped his hand about his feelings for JJ to his sisters by volunteering for cleanup duty and he only hoped they wouldn't spill those proverbial beans to her.

Exhaling deeply as he turned the dishwasher on, Dave could hear the women laughing in the dining room and he decided to avoid that part of the house. Instead, he joined the male members of his family in the great room to watch the end of the football game. Intending to settle into his lazy boy recliner, his plans changed when he walked into the room and his father saw him.

"Take a walk with an old man?" He asked his son, although it was more of an order veiled in a question. Dave nodded and they walked down the hallway and into Dave's study, where the older man pulled a pipe out of his pocket and began tapping tobacco into it. "_Don't_ tell your mother about this," he warned as he lit the pipe and puffed on it.

Dave grinned, "You know she'll kill you if she finds out about it, right?"

"That's why she's not _going _to find out, capice?" The elder Rossi directed.

"Got it dad; so what's on your mind?" He asked, knowing his father didn't ask him into the study just for idle chit-chat.

"This Jennifer…you love her don't you?" Edoardo asked, as sat down behind the desk.

"What? No, she's just a friend dad," Dave lied, sitting in one of the chairs in front of the desk. He suddenly felt like he was ten years old again, called into his father's office to discuss a transgression he'd committed.

Edoardo peered at him over the top of his bifocals, "You may be able to lie to yourself son, but you can't lie to me. I might not be a fancy profiler, but I'll always be able to tell when one of my children is being less than forthright with me."

Dave sighed; he didn't feel like he was ten, he felt like he was six. "What can I say dad? I love her. I love her more than I ever thought was possible to love a woman." Seeing that his father was about to interrupt, Dave pressed on. "I know what you're going to say; you're going to remind me that I thought I was in love with at least three other women in my life, but it's different this time. I've been in love with Jennifer from the day I met her, but I left her alone because I thought she was happy with another guy. Now that she's single, I'm terrified that I'll blow it with her, that somehow I'll do something to drive her away, but I can't imagine my life without her in it; she and her son are the first things I think about when I wake up in the morning and they're the last things I think of when I go to bed at night. I've _never_ felt like this before."

Dave finally paused to take a breath and when he did, his father quirked an eyebrow at him. "Are you finished son?" Dave nodded. "Good," Edoardo continued, "What I was going to say was, I've _never_ seenyou like this with a woman. You're patient with her, you listen to her and you look at her with such tenderness that _my _heart melts! You may have been married three times previously, but you've never been as caring as you are with Jennifer."

Dave gave a soft smile, "I love her more than anything in the world."

"Then why haven't you told her? Why are you still pretending you're just friends with her?"

"She just got out of a horrible relationship and I don't want to spook her," Dave told him.

"With Henry's father?" Edoardo asked.

Dave nodded, "While he didn't physically harm either one of them, he did emotional damage and, as a result, Jen is rather skittish about getting into another relationship and, as a result of that, I'm taking it slowly with her."

"How long are you willing to wait for her, son?" Edoardo asked, amazed that a woman was finally able to slow his son down.

"For as long as it takes; she's worth it and if it never happens, if we remain 'just friends' forever, then so be it. I would never force her into anything she isn't totally comfortable with."

"Well here's hoping it happens soon, Davie," his father said, raising his pipe in a toast. "I know your mother is itching for more grandchildren and you're the only Rossi child who hasn't given her any."

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Spending time with the Rossi women was fun, but it was also rather intense as they tended to change subjects at the drop of a hat. As a result of trying to follow along, JJ began developing a mild headache and, after nearly an hour at the dining room table, she excused herself so she could go to her room to take a Tylenol. On her way to the guest room, she passed by the study and heard voices. Knowing she shouldn't, JJ paused to listen to the conversation and she was shocked when she learned of Dave's true feelings for her.

As she shamelessly eavesdropped on Dave and his father, she felt her face turn red as he told his father that he'd never loved anyone the way he loved her. Could it really be true, could Dave be as totally head-over-heels in love with her as she was with him? As she continued to listen in on their discussion, JJ was shocked to learn that he was willing to take it slowly for her, that he didn't want to push her into another relationship until she was ready. She'd _never _had a boyfriend who was willing to take it at her speed; it was always about them, about what _they _wanted. If possible, she felt herself falling even more in love with the older profiler and she decided to make those feelings known to him, just as soon as she could figure out what to say to him.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS. I own nothing but my imagination.

Christmas Magic-Chapter 13

**~Well, this is it, the last chapter. Once again I'd like to give a HUGE thanks to everyone who reviewed and alerted this story. Please give me your final thoughts via review or PM. **

**~Merry Christmas!**

* * *

Dave's family left the cabin before ten o'clock that night and since she lived in the city, close to where they would attend Christmas Eve mass the following night, his parents chose to stay in Adriana's spare bedroom. His siblings all lived in and around the DC area, so they all returned to their homes as well. By ten-thirty that night, only JJ and Henry remained at the cabin with him.

As she unpacked her duffel bag in the guest bedroom, JJ pondered the next couple of days. While she hadn't formally planned on staying at the cabin that night, or throughout the Christmas holiday, Dave managed to talk her into staying when she'd broached the subject of returning to the city. She'd somewhat expected the invite, since he knew she would be alone for the holiday and she'd packed three days worth of clothing and supplies for both her and Henry. Along with their go bags, JJ had also packed some of Henry's Christmas presents and her present for Dave.

Her gift for the profiler wasn't much; on her tight budget she was lucky to get her own son a few Christmas presents, much less anyone else. In fact, her gift for Dave was homemade. During her first stay at the cabin, Dave had commented on the draft that seemed to sweep through the great room during the winter months and he'd shivered as he said it. Upon her return to DC, JJ had bought some hunter green yarn and had knitted him an afghan blanket in her spare time. She'd pulled a few all-nighters in order to finish it before Christmas and she hoped he would enjoy it.

Once she'd gotten everything unpacked and situated, she sat down at the large desk and tried to sort out her feelings for the older man. As much as she wanted to deny it, she was one hundred percent in love with him and, after overhearing his conversation with his father, she knew he felt the same way about her. While a small part of her was terrified at the prospect of putting herself out there again, of entering into a relationship that had the potential to devastate her if it ended badly, she knew she had to tell Dave how she felt about him. The whole 'just friends' thing was getting old and she knew they both wanted more. After reflecting for a few more minutes, JJ grabbed a piece of paper out of her bag and started writing down exactly how she felt. An hour later, she fell into an easy sleep, knowing that Dave would soon know her true feelings for him.

xxxxxxxxxx

The next night, JJ and Henry joined Dave and his family at Christmas Eve mass. She was astounded by the beauty of the service and she was filled with an awe at the joy she felt being surrounded by the Rossi family. After the mass, when Dave introduced her to the priest and referred to him as his oldest and dearest friend, JJ had to hold back a snort; talk about opposites attracting!

After mass, the Rossi family, along with both her and Henry, ate dinner at a small, Italian restaurant. The proprietor was another close family friend and the Rossi family members were the only customers. It was a loud and ruckus affair with a never ending supply of food and wine. When they finally left at nine o'clock, both Dave and JJ were both pleasantly stuffed with the wonderful food.

They made the drive home in a comfortable silence, with Christmas carols playing softly on the radio. Once they were back at the cabin, JJ put Henry to bed, changed into comfier clothes, grabbed Dave's present and headed for the great room. Once there, she was pleased to see that Dave had also changed and was starting a fire in the enormous fireplace. As soon as the fire caught, he joined her on the sofa, also holding a wrapped present for her.

After a few minutes of staring at the now roaring fire, Dave broke the silence. "Merry Christmas, Jennifer," he said as he handed her the long, rectangular box.

JJ held the box in one hand and gently removed the ribbon and paper with the other. As she opened the jewelry box, she gasped in surprise and pleasure as she stared at the most beautiful necklace she'd ever seen.

"Oh my God, Dave! It's gorgeous!" She exclaimed as she examined it. The chain was a delicate, silver and it was linked by several small, freshwater pearls. The pearls were spaced about an inch apart and in the center there was a small cluster of the same type of pearls. It was exactly what she would have chosen for herself.

"You shouldn't have," she told him, as he took it from her and placed it around her neck. "My gift to you is so small in comparison."

"I'm sure yours is great, Jen," he said as he closed the clasp on the necklace. Once he let go, she turned around and faced him and he could see that the necklace really was meant for her.

"I don't know," she said, suddenly nervous. She handed him the package and said, "Read the card first."

He set the package down between them and opened the card. JJ watched nervously as he read the letter in which she'd poured all of her feelings. She saw the emotions play across his features and by the end, he wore a soft smile on his face.

"Really?" He asked, "You're really in love with me?"

JJ nodded, "I really am; I've loved you since the first day I met you in Hotch's office."

Dave could count on one hand the number of times he'd been struck speechless in his life and this was definitely one of those times. He wordlessly pulled her towards him and covered her mouth in a passionate kiss. She returned the affection and soon they were in each other's arms, kissing with a fervor that neither of them knew was possible. Finally, after a minute, they both needed to come up for air and they pulled apart slightly.

Hearing the crinkle of paper, JJ said, "You're crushing your Christmas present."

Dave looked into her eyes as he brushed a finger down the side of her face, "Jennifer," he said lovingly, "All I want for Christmas is you."


End file.
